Wyanet--Olof Eckberg, of this city, who spent six years in the Swedish navy from 1896 to 1902, ending his navy career wth the rank of boatswain's mate, has just finished carving out a replica of the ship "Oceana Atlantic" on which he made two voyages from Sweden to Australia. Each trip was about 32,000 miles and took nine months to complete with stops for cargo being made en route with the original ship having a capacity of 5500 tons and a crew of 40 men. At that time he received a salary of $35 or seven pounds per month.
Mr. Eckberg started the work of carving this ship from an elm log just before Christmas in 1947 and while he says he did not do much work on it during the summer, he has worked steadily on it for the last six weeks. The actual cost of materials used is about $50 although he has placed a value on the finished ship of $500. The 30 pieces of sail were made from two pillow slips that cost $6.
This replica is a full mast bulk or four mast ship with 30 sails and measures six feet from stern to bow sprit; 16 inches wide beam; and 57 inches from the keep to top of mast; the mast spar yard measures 21 inches, and with a figurehead on the prow.
Mr. Eckberg stated that he plans to sell the model masterpiece and then plans to start work on another ship or copy of the "Freja" a Swedish navy training ship on which he spent 12 months. This ship was also a sailing vessel although it had auxiliary engines.
After receiving his discharge from the Swedish navy in 1902 he came to this country where he worked on farms and coal mines in Illinois and then went west for two seasons, working in the harvest fields and on ranches. He married Ida Almstrom, a schoolmate from Sweden, in Greenview, Ill., in 1905, and they have lived around Wyanet since. They farmed around Wyanet until he retired in 1943 and moved to town. They were blessed with 11 children, nine boys and two girls, all of whom live around Wyanet with the exception of one son in San Antonio, Tex. Five of the boys were in the army in World War II and all returned to carry on their life work. Two of the boys, LeRoy and Kenneth, operate the Texaco oil station in Wyanet.
See another story about Olof and his model ship.
Note: The name of Olof's ship was actually the "Oceana." The model had the word "Atlantic" on the stern and the reporter mistakenly added it to the ship's name.
These pictures show the incredible detail Olof put into making his model. In this first one, notice the mermaid at the prow and the stitching and "ropes" along the sails.
In this second picture the detail is again shown in the rope ladders that ascend the masts. The lifeboats all had hand-carved paddles in them.
